Filling the Gaps of a Fatherless Childhood

budget

There is an amazing little story, probably a legend, that I read the other day about a guard post in England. The guard post was set up next to the castle walls and had one guard posted there, kn shifts, 24 hours a day. The post was not near a gate, door or any sort of entry, but just a guard along a stretch of sidewalk along the fence. When a tourist asked the sentry what was being guarded, he answered, “I do not know. This post has been here for over 100 years and it is commanded that a sentry is placed here at all times”.

The tourist, amused, decided to find out what the reason for the sentry was. After asking around for a few days, the answer was revealed. Over 100 years ago, the Queen of England (at that time), planted roses at that very spot because she felt the walls were too uninviting. She hoped that the climbing roses would cover the walls and fill the air with its sweet scent. It was commissioned that a sentry be posted there to guard the roses so that they could grow unhindered. That Queen had since died and so did the roses, but the sentry post had been there ever since, guarding what looked now to be a regular grass-covered plot of ground.

There are things in your life that you hold on to. Things that you have started and not finished. Things that are gifts but not a way to make a living. Things that are guarded but are no longer there. These can be physical, mental…even spiritual.

They can be things that were started by someone 100 years ago or yesterday but all they do is take up space, time and money; resources that you have longed to have more of. It is necessary in life, just as when you re-evaluate a budget that you look at life’s budget and remove the items that are robbing you and your family. Seek out the sentries that are being wasted and guide them to the places they are needed.